Clinical Updates in the Management of Severe Asthma

Faculty

Reynold A. Panettieri, Jr., MD
Professor of Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Vice Chancellor, Clinical & Translational Science
Director, Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine & Science
Child Health Institute of New Jersey
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
New Brunswick, New Jersey

Michael E. Wechsler, MD, MMSc
Co-Director, The Cohen Family Asthma Institute
Professor, Department of Medicine
Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine
Director, Asthma Program
National Jewish Health
Denver, Colorado

Target Audience

The educational design of this activity addresses the needs of allergists/clinical immunologists, pulmonologists, and other clinicians involved in the ongoing management of patients with severe asthma.

Statement of Need/Program Overview

An estimated 5% to 15% of the more than 25 million Americans with asthma have a severe form of the disease, and are burdened by an outsized proportion of asthma-related morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs.^1,2 Although managing this cohort has historically been challenging, new insights into the heterogeneous clinical features and disease mechanisms among patients with severe asthma have raised the possibility of integrating presenting characteristics with molecular and cellular profiling to identify endotypes—ie, phenotypic descriptions that are matched with underlying mechanistic pathways.^3,4 Detailed disease classification, the development of biomarkers, and longitudinal monitoring of symptom control are now being used to guide the use of the growing number of biologic therapies, an important educational topic as pulmonologists and clinical immunologists increasingly seek to personalize treatment for patients with severe asthma.^3,5,6 This eHealth Source™ program examines best practices for assessing disease control in patients with severe asthma, the evidence for current and emerging biologic medications, and strategies to improve patient education and treatment adherence.

References

1. Levy ML. The national review of asthma deaths: what did we learn and what needs to change? Breathe (Sheff). 2015;11(1):14-24.
2. Bahadori K, et al. Economic burden of asthma: a systematic review. BMC Pulmonary Medicine. 2009;9:24.
3. Chung KF, et al. International ERS/ATS guidelines on definition, evaluation and treatment of severe asthma. Eur Respir J. 2014;43(2):343-373.
4. Lötvall J, et al. Asthma endotypes: a new approach to classification of disease entities within the asthma syndrome. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2011;127(2):355-360.
5. Wan XC, Woodruff PG. Biomarkers in severe asthma. Immunol Allergy Clin North Am. 2016;36(3):547-557.
6. Walsh GM. Biologics targeting IL-5, IL-4 or IL-13 for the treatment of asthma—an update. Expert Rev Clin Immunol. 2016 Aug 2:1-7. [Epub ahead of print]

Educational Objectives

After completing this activity, the participant will be better able to: 

• Discuss the pathophysiology of severe asthma, focusing on clinically relevant disease subtypes and molecular targets for new biologic
• Comprehensively assess patients with symptoms of severe asthma to determine the level of disease control and uncover potential phenotypes that can guide ongoing therapy
• Describe the clinical profiles of current and emerging biologic therapies for patients with severe asthma
• Individualize long-term management regimens for patients with severe asthma based on current symptoms, past treatment responses, appropriate biomarkers, and exacerbation risks
• Educate patients with severe asthma and, when necessary, their caregivers to facilitate shared decision making, encourage self-management, and promote treatment adherence

Physician Accreditation Statement

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of Global Education Group (Global) and Integritas. Global is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Physician Credit Designation

Global Education Group designates this enduring activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Nurse Practitioner Continuing Education

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation Standards of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) through joint providership of Global Education Group and Integritas. Global Education Group is accredited by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners as an approved provider of nurse practitioner continuing education. Provider number: 1561024. This activity is approved for 1.0 contact hour(s) which includes 0 hour(s) of pharmacology.

Activity ID #2103E.
This activity was planned in accordance with AANP CE Standards and Policies.

Global Contact Information

For information about the accreditation of this program, please contact Global at 303-395-1782 or
cme@globaleducationgroup.com

Instructions to Receive Credit

In order to receive credit, participants must complete the preactivity questionnaire, postactivity questionnaire, and program evaluation. Participants must also score at least a 70% on the posttest.

System Requirements

PC
Microsoft Windows 2000 SE or above.
Flash Player Plugin (v7.0.1.9 or greater)
Internet Explorer (v5.5 or greater), or Firefox
Adobe Acrobat Reader*

MAC
MAC OS 10.2.8
Flash Player Plugin (v7.0.1.9 or greater)
Safari
Adobe Acrobat Reader*
Internet Explorer is not supported on the Macintosh.

Fee Information & Refund/Cancellation Policy

There is no fee for this educational activity.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Global Education Group (Global) requires instructors, planners, managers, and other individuals and their spouses/life partners who are in a position to control the content of this activity to disclose any real or apparent conflict of interest they may have as related to the content of this activity. All identified conflicts of interest are thoroughly vetted by Global for fair balance, scientific objectivity of studies mentioned in the materials or used as the basis for content, and appropriateness of patient care recommendations.

The faculty reported the following financial relationships or relationships to products or devices they or their spouses/life partners have with commercial interests related to the content of this CME activity: 

Reynold A. Panettieri, Jr, MD  Consultant: AstraZeneca, Gilead, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Teva, NIH; Grant/Research: AstraZeneca, Gilead, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Roche, Sanofi-aventis, Teva, NIH.

Michael E. Wechsler, MD, MMSc  Consultant: AstraZeneca, BSCI, Teva, Novartis, Sanofi-aventis, Vectura, Sunovion, Regeneron, Ambit bioscience, Meda, Mylan, Gliacure, Tunitas, Genentech, Theravance.

The following planners and managers reported the following financial relationships or relationships to products or devices they or their spouses/life partners have with commercial interests related to the content of this CME activity:

Lindsay Borvansky  Nothing to disclose
Andrea Funk  Nothing to disclose
Kristen Delisi, NP  Nothing to disclose
Jim Kappler, PhD  Nothing to disclose
Rose O'Connor, PhD  Nothing to disclose

Disclosure of Unlabeled Use

This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. Global Education Group (Global) and Integritas Communications do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications.  

The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of any organization associated with this activity. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Disclaimer

Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development. The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of patient conditions and possible contraindications on dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommend